Tol Eressëa (Q, pron. [tol eˈresːe.a]) was a large island off the coast of Valinor. Its name translates from Quenya as the Lonely Island, for it lay originally in the middle of the Belegaer, far from any other landmasses.

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History

Ulmo pushed it back and forth across Belegaer twice to transport the Elves to Aman. After that, it came to rest forever just off the eastern shore of that continent in the Bay of Eldamar, and was inhabited by the Teleri of Aman, until they left to Alqualondë.

With the end of the First Age, many of the Eldar of Middle-earth exiles (and Teleri that never left it) went to Aman, and lived in the island of Tol Eressëa. Its principle location is the port city of Avallónë on the eastern shore.

Flora

Many beautiful trees grew on Eressëa, and their seedlings were gifted by the Eldar to Númenor to enrich the land. Some of them were:

Other versions of the Legendarium

In early versions of Tolkien's legendarium, the island was later visited by Ælfwine (or Eriol), an Englishman from the Middle Ages, which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion.